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I made a decision and I don't want to move on to the next piece until I perfected it. Thanks to this decision I have been working on Bridal Chorus for weeks and progress is slow. I had many problems when I started playing this piece, but they seem to go away. Any thoughts, advice on how to tackle this song?

Mete, as with any piece causing difficulty we need to know the treble and bass lines really well. So that would be the first thing to look at, make sure both are in the memory banks and look for any area where you hesitate and work on this section playing each repeat very very slow. Practice both the treble and bass separately to look for and smooth out inconsistencies. You can also try slowing the whole thing down this will imprint finger positions into muscle memory, very surprising but it really works well.

The Bridal Chorus has a few chord changes with a fairly simple melody line so I would suspect (although you did not specify) the problem may be in the chord changes not being even, or the slight pause during the chord change mucking up the timing, So practicing left hand chord changes separately would help.

Lastly, some pieces just naturally take a long time to learn. I have been working on Chopin Etude No 3 (page 90) for going on three months and I still can't get it right. This is despite the fact I play more pieces out of book 3 than book 2. But I know I need to gain more experience to make the etude sound the way it should so I am patiently working at gaining that experience. So I would not advise you stop and wait to get a piece right before progressing. The Alfred pieces are not linear, building upon the previous works, rather they are explorations into different styles.

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I thought I understood endurance sport; then I took up piano XXXVII-8-XXX

As you pointed out, my problem is rapidly changing left hand chords. I think, in time, I will instantly recognize and translate them to the piano keys. Practice makes perfect!

I am working on 3-4 different pieces from other books at the moment. I don't want to hate one song by repeatedly playing it over and over. So, I alternate them and this leaves time for a piece to sink into memory.

I made a decision and I don't want to move on to the next piece until I perfected it.

This is the path to frustration and lack of enjoying the instrument.

I think Bridal Chorus is one of the very first pieces, so you do no favors to use this method, and have a long way to go with many important lessons not reached because there is a self-imposed limit on when you can step to the next level of lessons, this is not a strategy I would recommend, at least for this series of books.

When I skip pieces, it's because I find a supplemental from somewhere which is in the same key, style or teaches the same information Alfred's are trying to impart.

But many pieces in this book - towards the middle mostly - are quite poor and not really enjoyable. So why hammer away? stuck for weeks / months, when you can supplement some good old Bach, which is a joy to play and learn at the same time, something new .. Well of course it's only if you like classical pieces!!

This book has been a long process for me, and without supplementals and taking breaks and / or skipping boring peices once a "gist" or basic completion has been achieved, I'd not have enjoyed it so much.

Now I actively look forward to Book 3, knowing that I can step up to other supplemental. Clementi easier sonatina I think op 38,6 off-hand looks nice, and perhaps some of the less difficult Chopin.

More adventures lie ahead, don't let a neurosis lead to stopping playing, or giving up a book because of one piece now, or later in the book which you can't master

I completely agree with starbug. Most songs in book 2 and 3 are quite challenging - they are supposed to teach you something and raise your level. If you want to perfect them, it might take over a month for each of them, depending on how fast you learn. If there is a song you like, you can always go back to it after a few months, and you'll find out that you can master it with less effort.

This applies to the average adult learner, not to particularly gifted people or teenagers, who can learn so much faster. It certainly applies to me. All songs in the Alfred's books are useful but they are not all absolutely necessary. Surely a teacher would make you select and skip some, while adding supplemental material along the way. We only have so much time and mental energy.

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

I agree with you on some aspects. I have been working on this Bridal Chorus piece for a month and frustration seems to creep in as time passes. I get better at playing it everyday, that's for sure. But, my time being limited, perfecting one piece means not playing/enjoying other 10 pieces. I work on 3 pieces at the same time, but Bridal Chorus consumes most of my time.

I think I will enjoy playing piano more if I move on. I don't have any plans for being a concert pianist. Thanks for your valuable feedbacks.

Oh yah--another vote for letting pieces go. If you want to perfect something, pick something you really like to listen to and something that is fun to play! For most of us there aren't too many pieces in Alfred that fit those requirements.

_________________________Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not a competition, merely an exhibition. No wagering please.

Oh yah--another vote for letting pieces go. If you want to perfect something, pick something you really like to listen to and something that is fun to play! For most of us there aren't too many pieces in Alfred that fit those requirements.

Nor any piece for that matter, for once you start playing more advanced pieces the easy ones (ones that at the time may have been very difficult) will almost seem childish.

_________________________
I thought I understood endurance sport; then I took up piano XXXVII-8-XXX

Mete, if your time is limited that is even more reason to let it go.. You are not getting to the sweeter lessons and pieces because of a self-imposed bar you have set yourself.

To echo other posters, if you return to this piece after a few months progressing further into the book, you will cruise it..

These books aren't perfect. There are some pieces which become easier after lessons handed out later in the course. Sounds counter intuitive, but was also the case in book one, with the deadly and frankly evil "Blow the Man Down".

mete, don't let bridal chorus discourage you. I also had trouble with that one and I don't know why...it seemed like it should be fairly easy but I did spend a long time on it.

You probably already know that you'll go through several songs quite quickly and then hit a wall with one.

The question you bring up has been discussed a lot on the Alfred forum. I found for myself the best thing is to keep at a song until it is good (notes, tempo, dynamics, no hesitations, etc) even if it is at a pretty slow tempo. Then I move on.

mete, don't let bridal chorus discourage you. I also had trouble with that one and I don't know why...it seemed like it should be fairly easy but I did spend a long time on it.

You probably already know that you'll go through several songs quite quickly and then hit a wall with one.

The question you bring up has been discussed a lot on the Alfred forum. I found for myself the best thing is to keep at a song until it is good (notes, tempo, dynamics, no hesitations, etc) even if it is at a pretty slow tempo. Then I move on.

Now I'm on Mexican Hat Dance. Wonder why so many Spanish songs all clumped together?

How is everyone else doing?

just4fun, I gave up perfecting Bridal Chorus. I'll give it a try a couple of times a day and that's it. I want to explore different songs(I'm working on Guantanamera) and last thing I want to do is frustrate myself over a hobby.

That's great, Ohio! I started to really like La Bamba after I played it for awhile.

What is the other book that you mention? Is it an Alfred's book or something else?

I finished Tarantella, Festive Dance and Scherzo. Finally moved past all the Spanish songs. I did like them but not all at once!

Now I'm onto Intro and Dance. The trickiest part for me is where the left hand is non legato (but not staccato), and the right hand starts out legato, then a tied note where the last note is staccato, and the next note is not staccato. (second page).

What is the other book that you mention? Is it an Alfred's book or something else?

I'm going to have some fun and guess. It is Alfred's Premier Piano method series, level four Performance. The premier series has several books at each level: lesson, theory, and performance. The performance books are simply collections of pieces to practice, labelled with corresponding page numbers from the lesson book, so you know when you should be able to play them.

I have book 2 but can't find any publishing date other than 1998 printed on the CD. I bought this book in Jan 2013 and I think it is the latest - however Alfred Publishing have a website you can against

What is the other book that you mention? Is it an Alfred's book or something else?

I'm going to have some fun and guess. It is Alfred's Premier Piano method series, level four Performance. The premier series has several books at each level: lesson, theory, and performance. The performance books are simply collections of pieces to practice, labelled with corresponding page numbers from the lesson book, so you know when you should be able to play them.

Yes, that's it. I had actually sent a note to Alfred on their facebook page asking where I would transition going from Premier Book 4 to the Adult All in One book. Their response actually was Adult AIO Book 3 but I had already ordered book 2. While there does seem to be overlap between book2 and the Premier book4 there are some new topics about midway in the book. So my plan going forward on Adult AIO book 2 is to pick out a piece or 2 from each topic until I hit new material.

Still working on La Bamba (getting close) and added Mexican Hat Dance this week which I think is where 6/8 time was introduced.

Quick question... I have book 1 published in 2010, have found book 3 published in 2010, but can only find book 2 published in 1997. Is this book okay?

I have had a few versions of each pass through my hands. There are varying copyright dates and cover designs. To make a long story short, the all-in-one books all have the same content, only the inside and outside cover has changed. They also changed their logo at some point.

Even when ordering direct from Alfred, you seem to not get consistent batches of books. I think they, and other distributors, have a mix of old and new stock lying around.

Working on Mexican Hat Dance and Scherzo. Scherzo seems way easy comparatively to the pieces around it. Played the whole piece sight-reading at my lesson yesterday. Not a lot of movement of the hands and the tempo is andante I believe.